Failure to return a phone call from an influential and well-financed group of donors may have cost Obama millions that are now flowing to Hillary Clinton, according to Alexander Bolton of The Hill:
Sen. Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) presidential campaign may have missed out on millions of dollars by failing to return the calls of a small group of highly influential donors and operatives in New Jersey.
The high-rollers, having waited in vain for more than a month for Obama's campaign to get back in contact, signed up to support Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.).The gaffe highlights Clinton's organizational advantage over her chief rival for the Democratic nomination. It also shows how Obama's focus on the Internet and running an outsider's campaign may undermine his ability to cultivate traditional political allies.
Read the rest at the link above. I think Bolton is easy on Obama: what on earth does "focus on the Internet and running an outsider's campaign" have to do with ignoring a phone message? In fact, Obama's only contested races were his first two - one loss, then a win - for the Illinois Senate. He has no concept of what is required to run a competitive campaign on a national scale, and it shows.
His current popularity can be traced to his "fresh face," lack of any real record, and his bromide-ridden homilies, all of which allow potential voters to imagine him to be whatever they WISH he might be. Once the picture presented to the public changes from a "blank slate" to a portrait of the man as he actually IS, expect those numbers to fade faster than a Pelosi promise.
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Filed under:
2008 Presidential Race, Obama
Tags: campaign, donors, incompetence, Obama
Comments (2)
I think your assessment of ... (Below threshold)1. Posted by Sheldon | March 20, 2007 3:43 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I think your assessment of Barack Obama is correct. I always thought his threat to Hillary Clinton, while not to be discounted, has been overblown by the media. Hillary, with Bill Clinton at her side, has the most adept campaign machine in the country.
1. Posted by Sheldon | March 20, 2007 3:43 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on March 20, 2007 15:43
2. Posted by Jim Addison | March 21, 2007 12:00 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Bill Clinton is without doubt the greatest living American politician, and he is among the best of all time.
On "offense," Reagan was better, ignoring the opposition and staying on his own positive themes, but Reagan didn't play defense well. He stumbled when forced onto his heels unless he had a disarming quip ready to buy time. The first debate with Mondale in '84 had people wondering if he'd lost it. The quick wit brought him back in the second meeting. Then there was his rudderless response to Iran-Contra.
Clinton excelled in adversity, turning around the worst situations. He took the Gennifer Flowers scandal in the '92 campaign and parlayed it into becoming the "Comeback Kid" by LOSING New Hampshire. Any other President in modern times would have been forced to resign by the Lewinsky scandal; Clinton actually increased his popularity through aggressive counterattack and became the only President in our lifetimes not to lose seats in Congress in his second midterm.
2. Posted by Jim Addison | March 21, 2007 12:00 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on March 21, 2007 00:00